The 17th Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, Kenya Division, was held at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday. Contestants from 22 schools in the country participated in this competition, which was organized by the Confucius Institute at Kenyatta University.

The theme for the competition this year is Fly High with Chinese. The contest includes tests such as Chinese speech, Chinese cultural knowledge and Chinese Talent Show, with contestants presenting their own understanding to Chinese language as well as Chinese culture in fluent Chinese.

Tang Jianjun, counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, while delivering a speech at the competition, mentioned that the Kenyan and Chinese governments are accelerating the construction of a closer China Kenya community with a shared future and Chinese language learning plays an irreplaceable role in building this community.

Tang said Chinese is one of the six working languages of the United Nations and with more than 1.7 billion people using Chinese worldwide, nowadays more than 180 countries and regions in the world offer Chinese education, and more than 70 countries have included Chinese in their national education systems.

Salome Nyambura, local director of Confucius Institute, Kenyatta University, said the institute has been working on Chinese course promotion. To let teachers have a first-hand experience in teaching Chinese language and culture in schools, the institute plans to sponsor some of the teachers to have a cultural experience in China next year.

Michael Gicheru, executive dean of School of Pure and Applied sciences at Kenyatta University, said that the competition serves as a linkage between Kenya and China, and through these opportunities Kenyan learners are made aware of the world of possibilities globally.

Gicheru said that 24 students from Kenyatta University will be proceeding to Shandong Normal University in China to further their studies in Chinese proficiency, and so far 312 students have been to the university in China through this partnership.

"You can see that these efforts and initiatives are not in vain and are very crucial in empowering and equipping our young generation with skills to compete globally in order to transform the Kenyan society and foster amicable relationships between Kenya and China," he said.

14 year-old Mirriam Wambui from Kahawa Presbyterian Academy won the laurel on the competition, and she will be sponsored to participate in the global final hosted in China later this year.

zhangchi@chinadaily.com.cn